The importance of social media to organization’s strategic communications campaigns is the way it’s been an essential tool for sports organizations in executing it the correct way. Interactive social sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have given sports organizations the opportunity to interact directly with fans, sports players, and other participants, which establishes a sense of camaraderie and loyalty to the brand. Organizations have the potential to increase their exposure and influence their public narrative through giving current news, inside knowledge, interactive content. Social media is very helpful in announcing current events, distributing direct information, and is quick at responding to issues. Additionally, sports organizations are able to capitalize on user generated content which is great for expanding both the reach and influence for their campaigns. In an era where digital presence is critical, social media is a strong tool for creating connections, managing reputation, and keeping connected with a worldwide audience, eventually contributing considerably to the success of strategic communications campaigns in the sports industry.
I’m not sure if you see cricket in the media a lot or have even seen it on platforms such as ESPN or even sports talk shows, but I have never even watched a game of cricket. While reading up on it, I discovered one of the factors that play a role in this problem is the lack of public relations involved in cricket. According to “Applying the public relations function to the business of sports” by Maria K. Hopwood, the sport cricket has not been getting the attention from the media as it should have because the sport doesn’t have a consistent public relations strategy. Hopwood states “Each of the UK’s 18 First Class County Clubs is responsible for promoting the game at local level, but there does not appear to be a unified, directed or consistent public relations strategy in place.” Based on this statement alone, it shows how important it is for public relations to be involved in order to increase the view and interactions within the sports industry. Other sports are shown more attention and have a significant amount of money put into them because of the attention that it gets from social media.
Nevertheless, one of the ways English cricket could fix this issue is by developing an organization focused on community interaction through youth development using cricket. Doing this will encourage participation in cricket at the local level, this will teach the younger generation sportsmanship, diversity, and collaboration. Furthermore, while the organization is coming about they can use social media to follow along in the process with behind the scenes looks, and interactive material may help strengthen relationships with fans and future players. This helps cricket broaden and popularize itself and also connects with society by highlighting sports influence, promoting a healthy lifestyle, and community bonding.
